As the Sydney Theatre Company moves into a new season of performances, Artistic Director Kip Williams has emphasised that contemporary Australian works will be a focus of the company. To kick off the season was Van Badham’s new play ‘A Fool in Love’, an adaptation of Lope de Vega’s La Dama Boba. The play took place on a whimsical set at the Wharf 1 Theatre which immediately struck the audience as they walked into the building. Decked out in a fluorescent pink, it almost felt as if it were out of a movie set. 

The play was engaging, with the modernity of the play immediately apparent through the references to the housing crisis in Sydney, situating the original play in a new landscape. The play centred around Lee, a Sydney builder, who attempts to marry Phynayah in order to receive a share in a large fortune that Phynayah will receive if she marries before her 30^th birthday. However, a love triangle follows soon after as philosophy student Laurie enters the picture before expanding even further when Lee and Vanessa, Phynayah’s sister, begin to connect. The plot was highly farcical but took a while to find its feet, as the somewhat confusing connections between the characters had to been explained and developed, leading to a very long and somewhat plodding start to the first act. 

However, the action began to heat up once the actors had the opportunity to put their own spin on their roles. Johnny Nasser as Otavio (Phynayah and Vanessa’s father) was absolutely outstanding, stealing every scene he was in with perfectly executed comedy. In fact, all the actors on stage were exceptional, lifting the work to another level with impressive characterisation and excellent comedic timing. Keeping the audience engaged whilst managing the farcical nature of the script was quite a challenge in a play of this nature and all the actors on stage (Johnny Nasser, Contessa Treffone, Megan Wilding, Alfie Gledhill and Aaron Tsindos) were superb in this regard. Treffone as Phynayah was also a highlight with her bubbly characterisation shining through the whole play. 

While the acting throughout was superb and the premise of the play as a social satire was interesting and engaging, the writing at times was a little clunky. Some of the one-liners fell flat and the pacing felt a little off. There were times where the writing of the characters felt a little cartoon-y (especially the reveal at the end of the first act) which meant that the actors needed to work even harder to make the performance believable (which they managed expertly). It was also unclear to whom some of the philosophical references were directed to as they were often presented without context which meant that the application of the references was not always completely correct, which would be picked up by someone with a philosophical background. However, they were also presented in such a way that they were not accessible for those without a philosophical background meaning that they did not really connect with anyone. That said, what the play did fabulously was advance an interesting storyline and develop it in a way that was truly engaging, especially towards the end. The pacing issues in the first act were not apparent in the second act which meant that the play flowed in a much more concise and considered manner towards the end. 

Overall, this was an exciting play with a lot of potential given the interesting subject matter and the natural engagement that flows out of the script. The acting was sublime throughout and once some minor writing and pacing issues can be corrected, this will become a very popular play. 

Rating: ★★★★

A Fool in Love plays at Wharf 1 Theatre until 17^th March. For more information click here.

Photo credit: Daniel Boud